Pickled Radishes

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind where nothing goes right? Well that is how I have been feeling for the past couple of weeks! It is almost the end of the school year and my ability to multitask as a full-time mother, librarian, and blogger just isn't working. I've missed out on field trips, have forgotten to return paperwork and missed some blog posts. All I can say is thank goodness for my husband,  Mr. HFA (that's short for Henslee Farm Adventures in case you're wondering ;-) ). If it wasn't for him I would have lost my mind a long time ago!

My new venture, since I don't have enough on my plate, is of course selling goods at our local farmer's market (Read about why you should support your local farmer's market). Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into, but to tell you the truth I absolutely love it! The best part is that I have made some new friends.

Drew enjoying one of Rema's purple radishes at the farmer's market.

One of my new friends is Rema from Ford Family Farms. She grows heirloom vegetables, is very knowledgeable about her veggies, and has a great sense of humor! Talking to her has been a great learning experience for me. Whether she realizes it or not, I am learning more about seed germination and what works and doesn't work. I have had bad luck with heirloom seeds in the past because let's face it, they are finicky. However after hearing how she does it, I am willing to try it again! But gardening tips is not all she has given me, last week she gave me a beautiful bunch of heirloom radishes.

Aren't they gorgeous? Ah, produce love.

While I love getting produce, any kind of produce, I wasn't sure what to do with them. Growing up, my parents always grew radishes and they were one of the first items to come out of our garden along with green onions and leaf lettuce. But we never did anything with them except eat them raw and put them in salads. Rema suggested making pickles out of them. Pickling them sounded wonderful! I love pickled anything. Now to find a recipe.

I found several recipes out there, but what I found interesting is that no two are alike. Some used honey, some used maple syrup, some used sugar.  Some had pepper flakes, some had fennel.  Still others used white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, or even just plain white distilled vinegar. It seemed like this was a recipe that truly could be tailored to fit whatever a person liked. 

I want to say a little something on the sugar that I use. I do not typically use refined white sugar. You hardly ever get to see the sugar I do use, because I pour my sugar into a glass container which I have at my "baking station" in my kitchen. The sugar I do use is a pure cane sugar which has gone through very little processing. It is not bleached white, although in certain pictures it does look white. It is also non-GMO, AND I can get it at our local Aldi store!

Non-GMO sugar, nothing wrong with that!

After much debate on which way I should go, I thought I would base the recipe on my sweet and spicy pickles, which are ah-maz-ing I might add.  I might share that recipe with you later this summer when the cukes are ready. With the amount of radishes I had, I was able to make 3 pint jars. I did process them in a water bath canner to preserve them. 

Ingredients minus the salt, pepper, and garlic cloves. Oops!

So here is my recipe:

• 2 big bunches of radishes
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar (white wine vinegar would be great too)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of pepper (I used white pepper)
• 1 teaspoon of salt (I used kosher)
• Garlic cloves (one per jar), optional

Slice radishes thin. This is where I used my mandolin slicer and it did a lovely job! They were sliced thin and it took no time to do it. If you don't have one, I would suggest getting one, it makes life easier! Once your radishes are sliced, put them in clean and sterilized jars. If you are using garlic, then add in the cloves of garlic too. I used garlic as we love it!

Thinly sliced in the jar, just waiting for the brine.

Put the rest of your ingredients into a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Poor liquid over the radishes, wipe off the rim of the jar and place a flat and ring on the jar, fingertip tight. Process in a water bath canner, 20 minutes for pint jars.

Pickled and ready to eat!

That's it! If you don't want to can it, you can simply place it in the fridge and let set for 24 hours for the flavors to meld. *NOTE: If you do can this, keep in mind that when you process these it will intensify the heat of the red pepper flakes. If you do not like it that spicy, then decrease the amount of pepper flakes that you use.

These radishes are a hot, tangy, slightly sweet, wonder! I can't believe that I have never had these until now! And I can't wait to grill some burgers and put these bad boys on top instead of my regular pickles. Talk about kicking it up a notch!

So try these out and let me know what you think. And comment below if you have ever made pickled radishes before.

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7 Reasons to Go to Your Local Farmer's Market

I know that on Thursday I usually post a recipe. Well this week, I didn't have the time to get a recipe ready to share with you all. That doesn't mean that I wasn't cooking or baking, in fact I have done quite a bit this week. All my cooking and baking have been in preparation for our local farmer's market.

Our local farmer's market.

I have been an avid fan/shopper of our local farmer's market for over five years. In that time you get to know the vendors, you know the quality of their food and produce. I absolutely love when the farmer's market opens and I try to go every week. At the very least I try to get there every other week.

Well this year, I have decided to take a leap and become a vendor myself. I am excited and scared all at the same time. This has been a dream of mine for a long time. I have wanted to make things and sell them, but I have always thought up excuses as to why I couldn't.

Jams and Jellies I will be selling at my local farmer's market.

I was talking to a friend of mine who is great at motivating me and giving me pep talks. She talked about how to first have faith. No matter what God will take care of us if only we will believe. She also told me that if I never try, I will never know if I can succeed. She is absolutely right!

I thought I would share with you the reasons why you should go to your local farmer's market. Some of you probably have, but maybe there are a few who never have.

Eggs are a popular item at the farmer's market.

So here are my 7 reasons why you should go to your local farmer's market.

1.  Great Food!

The food that you buy at the farmer's market is fresh!  It hasn't been picked before it's ripe, to sit on a truck as it travels across country, only to sit (again!) on the shelf for who knows how long!  If it is baked goods, you know it has been baked within the last 24 hours.  You also get to try new things that you might not even see at a regular grocery store.  In fact I can't wait to get some more of the apple wood smoked salt one of the vendors sell. It is amazing!

2.  Great Price!

When I first started going to the market, I noticed that a lot of times the cost of food was higher than at the grocery store.  Not by much, just a few cents. At first my budget-trained mind kicked in and thought, I'm not going to pay that! But then I realized, I'm getting locally raised, organic, top quality food.  That few extra cents?  Worth it! And it is much cheaper than buying organic in a grocery store.  Plus you cut out the middleman. There is nothing better than buying straight from the grower, because...

3.  You Know Where Your Food Comes From

I love knowing where my food comes from. I love knowing that my food comes from a farm that is only a few miles down the road. I love knowing that the produce was picked less than 24 hours from the time that I purchase it. What to know where the food comes from? Ask questions, ask about the farm and their farming practices. They love to share that information with you, and then you will see the value in the items you buy.

4.  Reduces Carbon Foot Print

I touched on this in reason number one. My veggies and baked goods are not coming from across the country, or even from another country. They did not have to travel thousands of miles in a pollution emitting vehicle. There is also less packaging and less waste. This is a great and easy way to start your trek on becoming environmentally friendly! :-)

5.  Vendors Are Very Knowledgeable

Vendors are very knowledgeable about their product, they have to be. I got in on a conversation one year about pest control. One shopper was asking the grower what kind of insecticide he used. The answer? He doesn't! At least not a chemically based insecticide. That was music to my ears. But then he went on to give the buyer some options of how to take care of pests naturally. So have if you have a question, ask it! They are more than happy to answer.

6.  Your Money Goes Back Into Your Local Economy

This is so important! I am supporting local farmers. This money is going straight into my local economy, right back into my home town. I want my town to flurish and I want those small (read non-corporate) farms to prosper.

7.  You Get to Meet Some Great People

The vendors at the farmer's market are some of the most wonderful people that I have met! I love talking to them and getting to know them. The best part, is that they all seem like a big happy family. I have not heard one vendor say anything negative about another vendor. I love that! If someone runs out of an item, then they know where to send you so you can get it from someone else. Unlike the corporate world, they are not out to compete with each other, but to help each other.

I hope that I have convinced you to go to your local farmer's market. In fact I hope that you come and visit me and the other vendors at the first farmer's market of our season.

Do you already frequent your farmer's market?  Tell me in the comments below your favorite item to buy

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One-Pan Sausage and Pasta: A Review

Our journey to healthier eating is continuing. This week has been hard but only because I don't have a written meal plan. Seriously, the meal plan helped a ton last week, more than I really thought it would. The funny thing is that we didn't follow it to a tee, but just having meals written down, gave me a guide to follow.

This week, I didn't take the time to make a nightly meal plan and I am scrambling to figure out what to fix. The only thing that has saved us is that we still have plenty of healthy organic foods to choose from, so meals are pretty easy to whip together, even if I do have to stand in front of an open fridge door for five minutes!  :-)

I was trying to decide what to make for supper last night when I saw a Tasty video. Have you seen these videos? They always seen to show up right when you are realizing how hungry you are. Then they take a recipe that you might not otherwise try, and show you how to make it in a couple of minutes long video.  They make these recipes look so good and so easy! Thanks to these videos, anyone can be a chef!

One-Pan Sausage and Pasta

The recipe video that caught my eye yesterday afternoon was for One-Pan Sausage and Pasta. I knew I had all the ingredients and thought it would be a perfect recipe to try. Plus it only takes 30 minutes from start to finish.  

Ingredients:

Here are the ingredients for the dish:

The players for this meal, and that's white pepper in the container.

Notice, that all my ingredients are organic. Yes we are still doing organic. There are two ingredients that are missing from the picture above. One is water and the other is garlic. The recipe called for 4 cloves of garlic and I forgot that I used all my garlic for my bone broth. I decided to just used garlic powder instead.  Next time, real garlic cloves would be better.

The sausage the recipe called for was smoked andouille sausage, but I used sausage I purchased at Aldi. It is Kirkwood's Never Any! chicken sausage with tomatoes and basil. This sausage was perfect with this dish since it called for grape tomatoes and fresh basil. The sausage is fully cooked so I didn't have to worry about whether or not it was done, I just had to make sure and warm it through.  Side note: I love the Never Any! line from Aldi.  Their ham lunch meat is amazing and I can't wait to try the whole chicken that they now have available.

Making the Recipe:

To make the recipe, I sautéed the onions in olive oil first and sprinkled some garlic powder over them. Then I added in salt, then laid the spaghetti (a 1 pound box) in next, then continued with tomatoes, basil, and sausage. Once everything was in the pan, I added in 4 1/2 cups of water.

I let this come to a boil, turned down the heat to low, put a cover on the pan, and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Beautiful tomatoes, basil, and sausage.

At this time, the recipe says that the water should be absorbed by the cooking spaghetti and the spaghetti should be at the al dente stage.  Mine was not.  I did need to cook it a little longer, but only a couple of minutes longer.

Then I added a little pepper (I used white pepper) and some Parmesan cheese and voilà! 

The first thing I noticed was how much spaghetti was in the pan.  That one pound box made a ton! Thankfully my parents came to supper last night, or we would be eating on this for days! Also it was a little void of flavor. I'm wondering if that was because of the switch in sausages.  

Ready to cook.

What I Loved About This Recipe:

I loved the ease of this recipe. I loved that I could cook everything in one pot. And I loved that it didn't take very long for me to cook! In fact during 12 minutes that I had to let it simmer, I was able to make a nice side salad to go with our meal. 

What I Would Do Different:

I didn't care for all the pasta, so if I make this again, I would only use half of the one pound box.  And then of course, I would need to decrease my water as well.  I would try about 3 cups and see how that does.  I would also add in more veggies.  Some nice mushrooms and some colorful peppers would be amazing in this dish.  I would also add in some Italian herbs to kick things up a notch.

Overall Rating:

I would rate this recipe a B+ with the way that I made it last night.  Who knows it might have been better with the real garlic cloves and smoked andouille sausage.  But I think the real problem for me was the excess pasta and lack of veggies.  But of course that is my personal preference.  Do I recommend it?  Yes, it is a great recipe for the weeknight when you don't have a lot of time to cook and you want something good and this can rival take-out any day!

Funny, but I can't find the video from Tasty that I saw yesterday.  However, I do know that they based their recipe from another site.  So if you would like to get the recipe, I'm going to direct you there. Click here for the recipe.

Have you made any of these one pot pasta dishes?  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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Our Journey Towards Healthier Eating

My darling hubby, Steve was diagnosed with diabetes 6 years ago.  It's hard to believe it has been 6 years! It was a shock to us, but when we really started thinking about our diet, it was easy to see why.  Steve had this habit of eating one meal a day, and that meal would be huge to make up for not eating the rest of the day.  This reeked havoc on his blood sugar without him ever knowing.

Once the diagnosis was made, and we attended nutrition classes, we really got on the ball and stuck to a diet that not only helped him lose weight, but also lower his blood sugar.  It took a couple of years for this to happen, but it did happen.

The beginning of a beautiful bone broth.  Nature's elixir of youth.

I was bound and determined to be as supportive as I could so I decided to follow his diet as well, only tailor it to female proportions.  In doing so, I lost 45 pounds over a year's time.  I was able to keep the weight off, until the past year and a half.

Beautiful purple potatoes, high in antioxidants, they can help lower blood pressure and strengthen the immune system.

It is so easy to ease back into bad habits.  Life can get pretty hectic, and during the winter, when we don't have the fresh veggies coming out of our garden to eat, we end up taking advantage of fast foods and convenience foods.  But once we start eating those, the pounds pack back on.  And Steve's blood sugar starts creeping up (he had lowered it with diet and exercise), and his cholesterol started to rise.

Here's the kicker.  It isn't just our health that is of concern, but it is our children as well.  We can tell our kids all we want not to drink soda or eat junk food, but if they see mom and dad throwing back a can of soda and a bag of chips, then what does that tell them?

I love this quote.  It says so much about our society.

So in order to get us back on track and teach our kids good nutrition, we have started eating healthier. I won't say we are on a diet. In fact I absolutely hate that word and how people have used it in a negative way. Really there is nothing wrong with the word. The actual definition from Merriam Webster is "food and drink regularly provided and consumed" and the next one is "habitual nourishment." I kind of like that last one. It is not until the fourth definition provided that it talks about diet being a way to lose weight.

I have already shared a couple of recipes with you that would fall into the almost healthy range.  I say almost healthy because they could do with a little tweaking to make them even better. One of them is Lentil Sloppy Joes. We made these again last night, but I used red split lentils instead of the green lentils.

Isn't the color gorgeous! They are a great source of fiber and protein and are also packed with B vitamins and iron.

I also cut way down on the amount of sugar. Instead of the 1/2 of cup that the recipe calls for, I used 1/4 of a cup.  The rest of the recipe stays the same, but this time, I added some fresh mushrooms and diced tomatoes to the sauce.  It was yummy!  In fact Carly loved it so much that she took the leftovers to school with her for her lunch.  Now I call that a win!

We are trying to eat foods with an abundance of color (like the purple potatoes pictured above).  We also have cut down on our snacks, unless they are healthy (like yellow, orange, white, and purple carrots!) and we have cut down on our portions.

One of my favorite breakfasts, plain organic yogurt with frozen fruit and pumpkin flax granola.

The other thing that we are changing is purchasing organic. Not only is it healthier for you, but the food really does taste better. Think you can't afford organic? Then you need to revisit the stores. The organic versions are only a few dimes higher than the non-organic. Some of them are even the same or less if they are on sale!  Another way to get inexpensive organic veggies is to grow them yourself. You don't need a big plot of land, you can plant seeds in flower pots. Don't want to grow them yourself? Another great place to get organic produce is at your local farmer's market.

My organic and non-GMO groceries from Aldi!

So from here on, you will be seeing healthier recipes from me.  And with the garden season starting, it will (hopefully) be with veggies that we grow ourselves.  I hope that you will stick with me through this and that you will make baby steps as we are in striving to eat healthy!

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